Sierra View switched to districts before 2018 election

Many boards have done so to align with voting rights acts

Up until 2018, the entire community — basically all those who were served by Sierra View Medical Center — were able to vote for all five members who served on the Sierra View District Board.

But that all changed in 2018 when the first time the Sierra View District was divided into five districts. So now those in the community can only vote for one board member — the board member who represents their district.

Sierra View made the change as have many local district boards — including school boards — to the district system. The Burton and Porterville Unified School Boards are also both selected based on districts. The Porterville City Council is also elected on a district basis.

The board unanimously approved the transition from an at-large to a district basis election in 2016. In the decision, the board also established provisions when it came to protected groups as identified by California and Federal Voting Rights Acts.

For decades now local boards have been making the change to elections by districts. But the actions by boards to switch to district elections increased considerably after the passage of the California Voting Rights Act in 2002. Many boards switched to district elections to avoid or settle lawsuits alleging voter discrimination.

As far back as the 1990s, PUSD considered switching to district elections to prevent any issue with being

cused of voter discrimination from happening.

Critics of at-large elections say they prevent certain sectors of a community from being properly represented which basically means they don’t participate in the political process. The idea is those who vote for the candidate in their district select someone who truly represents their area.

The Sierra View Board approved the map for elections to be held by district in 2017. It was a months-long process in which a special zone elections committee advised on what the districts would be.

There were also three public hearings held during the process, but little public input was provid

ed. The meeting in which the board decided to go to elections by districts about a dozen community members attended, which included several who served on the zone elections committee.

Dr. Gaurang Pandya served as the vice-chair of the board at the time and also served as chair of the committee. He now represents district 2 on the board.

He is running for reelection and is being challenged by Dr. Kuldeep Jagpal in an election that’s received a great deal of attention because his wife, Ela Pandya, is running for the seat in district 1.

The incumbent in district 1, Dan Smith, is resigning. Pandya is running against Dr. Bindusagar Reddy. Kiran Sandhu is also technically running in district 1 but said she won’t be able to serve on the board and is

supporting Reddy.

The election code requires candidates to live in the district they represent and Ela Pandya said she will do so and it shouldn’t be an issue.

Smith served on the board at the time and agreed with Gaurang Pandya on the map that eventually determined the districts.

In the Sierra View District, district 5 is the largest geographical area representing rural areas east of Porterville, district 3 covers central and East Porterville, district 1 covers northwest Porterville and rural areas, district 2 represents central Porterville and district 4 represents southwest Porterville and rural areas.

In Distirct 4, Dr. Rakesh Jindal is running for re-election and is being challenged by Liberty Lomeli and Victoria Porter.